Go behind the scenes of Discovery Channel’s hit series “Planet Earth” and see how cameramen overcame the hurdles and rigors of filming in remote locations to capture their breathtaking footage. An interesting look into their rigs, gear, and production challenges. For example some footage I swear was done on a gyro-stabilized helicopter rig actually was shot off of a hot air balloon, seems as though the big budget boys can improvise with the best of them. If you enjoy those clips you may also be interested in this behind the scenes segment on how the pulled off the footage from their series “Everest and Beyond”.

Silicon Imaging has posted a video tutorial on how to use the SiliconDVR software to record from the SI-2K to hard drive.

(Via HD For Indies)

 NAB Wireless Audio Challenges [2:52m]: Download
 NAB Wireless Audio Challenges [2:52m]: Download

During the course of our experience at NAB 2007 we received a lot of positive feedback on the interview audio quality of our video podcasts. I wish we could somehow take credit as the NAB Audio Gods, but we can’t. All the praise goes to the Sennheiser Evolution Wireless G2 system we used (and abused) during our extensive coverage of the NAB tradeshow. In the video attached to this post we talk about the challenges of the shoot, and how the G2 handled them with ease. In particular, it’s ability to quickly auto-scan for open frequencies and multiple banks of frequency ranges were essential…the tradeshow floor is like the wild west of wireless traffic.

The EW100 (EW112PG2) package comes with a wireless transmitter beltpack, lapel mic, and a camera-shoe mountable receiver unit with adapter cables for both XLR and 1/8″ mini audio jacks. The optional handheld microphone we used primarily for our NAB interviews is the Super-Cardioid SKM545G2 handheld transmitter. It does a wonderful job of rejecting off-axis noise and was essential for obtaining usable audio on the noisy and distracting NAB showroom floor.

Note: Before purchasing a G2 Evolution wireless system, you should use the Frequency Finder to determine the correct range for your needs…A, B, or C. You can also check out the official specs at Senn’s USA site.

Click the Download links above or watch via our FreshDV iTunes Podcast Feed.

Apple announced they would be partnering with YouTube through Apple TV to make You Tube content available through the Apple TV for large screen viewing.

“With Apple TV, you can watch theatrical trailers from Apple.com on your TV. And soon, you’ll be able to browse and watch YouTube videos on the big screen, too. Coming in June, you can browse and watch thousands of free YouTube videos streaming directly from the Internet. Just sit back and enjoy the show.”

Apple.com

While this is definitely an interesting phase in the continuing effort to bring Internet entertainment into the home theater realm and bridge the technologies, I wonder exactly how grand crappy You tube encoding will when scaled up to you home TV system. Currently Apple TVs encoding has been less than satisfactory for a lot of users. This is certainly interesting and deserves to be watched.

Digital Content Producer has a detailed review of Newtek’s SpeedEdit NLE software. The software offers realtime throughout, and some other very interesting features.

“SpeedEdit has all of the tools you would expect in a professional NLE application, with some innovative additions. Its resolution independence means you can use SD and HD (720p or 1080i) clips on the same timeline. SpeedEdit takes that a step further and allows the use of other digital formats such as AVI, QuickTime, MPEG-2, and Flash. And because it does not transcode anything, formats remain in their native states.

Everything is done in realtime: combining SD and HD clips, playback, color correction, and basic 3D keyframe animation. Working in the interface, there’s no rendering necessary for clips, transitions, titles, etc. SpeedEdit features a dual interface with both a traditional timeline and a storyboard that are dynamically linked.”

Videoguys carries Newtek Speed Edit for $479 or as a $279 upgrade package for Lightwave users. Purchases made via that link directly benefit FreshDV.

(Via Videoguys Blog)

Update: Readers were quick to point out some issues with the informal test. Frank retested, and ProRes 422 has been vindicated.
“Using the ProRes 422 (HQ) codec as intended… it delivers as promised and a bit better than expected…..Further, I have been able to determine that most of the difference spotted in the Difference mode tests in After Effects was due to some sort of a gamma shift.”

Frank Capria whipped up a quick codec compression test pitting Avid’s DNxHD 175 and DNxHD 115 codec flavors against the similar Apple ProRes 422 and ProRes 422 HQ codec options.

“After re-importing the results in After Effects, I placed each file in a composition along with the Uncompressed 10-bit 4:2:2 version and used the Difference transfer mode to illustrate where the compressed image varied from the uncompressed. The results were quite surprising. The DNxHD 175 file’s difference from the uncompressed was barely visible to the naked eye, but the ProRes 422 (HQ) codec showed significant differences. In fact, in my test, the DNxHD 115 codec also outperformed the ProRes (HQ)”

Obviously this was a very quick and informal test, as Frank himself is quick to note. But the differences are striking…Avid’s codec is absolutely killing ProRes in these examples. It will be interesting to see how ProRes performs in more extensive testing.

(Via Editblog)

Microsoft’s long-rumored Project Milan has been revealed, and it’s pretty sweet. The technology previously known as “PlayTable” and “Table” is a $10,000 multi-touch, gestural interface technology in a flat 30-inch display table format. I understand it is now being called “Surface” and is sort of an incubated technology demonstration at this time, as it seems that MS is still deciding how to best utilize the tech and in what markets. They are selling it to some casinos and other commercial clients at this time (look for it this fall), but it feels like they haven’t really decided what to do with it yet…right now it’s a very expensive and fun tabletop toy.

The Microsoft Mobile and Entertainment Division (MED) is primarily responsible for development of the Milan Project, so it follows that we’ll likely see this sort of tech trickle down to the Zune, Windows Mobile devices, and the XBOX. I understand that they are interested in other venues of distribution as well, so perhaps it’s use as a hands-on editing display isn’t too far-fetched (though likely to be prohibitively expensive in the short term). The other big company pushing multi-touch at this time is of course Apple, with the iPhone announcement. It will be interesting to see how use of the tech plays out between the two brands in the next several years. I’ve included a short demonstration video of the interface below…
Continue reading ‘Microsoft Reveals the Minority Report Table’

Duel Systems has just released a beta version of their drivers for their express card to PCMCIA adapter for Macbook Pro. Earlier driver releases had frustrated users who had waited a long time for the adapter to be released only to find a very klunky workaround was the only way to get the drivers to work with the unsupported 10.4.9 version of OS X. Frustration ensued as we were left with useless hardware at around $100 each. It appears that Duel Systems has announced a beta version driver that offers support for 10.4.9 I personally haven’t had the chance to download it yet but you can get it here. 

Check back in if you have a chance to check it out and let me know what you guys think.

Accomplished British filmmaker Mike Figgis traveled to Los Angeles this spring to work on a network pilot. When asked by TSA officials the nature of his visit, he told them “I’m here to shoot a pilot.” Whoops. In retrospect, a bad choice of words…Figgis was detained for 5 hours. But can you blame them? I’ve never seen a picture where he didn’t look a bit scruffy and mildly suspicious. And when you’ve got strange-looking gear like the Fig Rig in your baggage, what do you expect? :-) Just kidding, Mike. Hope they didn’t rough you up too much…

Movie directors-cut versions versus what you saw in theaters…an analysis.

Daily Film Dose has a nice list of creative long takes in the movies, with example videos. Shots from Goodfellas, Oldboy, Magnolia, Children of Men, Irreversible, to name a few.

(Via Ticklebooth)

Sony has announced a unique new flexible ultra-thin organic TFT display that is capable of displaying full color video at 120×169 pixels. It weighs a mere 1.5 grams and is a razor thin 0.3 mm. They haven’t decided what to do with it yet, but the possibilities seem endless. Here is the translated Press Release, and you can watch the video after the jump.

Continue reading ‘Sony Unveils Flexible OLED Display’

The Final Cut Studio 2 (FCP 6) upgrades have been shipping for about a week now, so a lot of your folks are probably getting ready to upgrade your editing boxen. When you do, consider backing up your old FCP app (and maybe Compressor and other tools you can’t live without) using the advice of editors Scott Simmons and Shane Ross.

For those of you who don’t remember, FreshDV did a tutorial on Adobe’s online flash based color theme design tool called Kuler. At the time I wondered how long it would take for Kuler to become its own application and at some point if Adobe would attempt to monetize it. In my opinion what makes Kuler work is that it is free, it gives users incentives to access it to build and share their themes thus creating a pretty extensive library. If they were to charge for this service I don’t think it would get near the response it has.

Well as of today its good news for Kuler! While not completely its own standalone software, Adobe has repackaged it in the form of a cross platform Apollo-based widget that can read themes and updates via RSS feeds. Very cool. One of the downsides for me that I found disappointing was the inability to create schemes and apply rules directly within the app. Basically the desktop app allows you to browse all the color schemes online. While that is very cool, the ability to create my own themes and apply rules to base colors etc…is where a lot of the power in Kuler is for me. The widget will save me sometime but I would find it alot more useful if I had access to the full range of creation tools through the desktop app as well. Here is to hoping V2.0 includes those tools. In the meantime you can continue to create and modify your designs via the online version of Kuler. Continue reading ‘Adobe Kuler Gets Makeover’

Coffee and Celluloid has posted a few interesting reading links. DIY Jib, Imitating A Scanner Darkly, Water Sound FX, notes on getting a meeting with investors, Spinal Tap reunion, Sicko, and more. They also have a short list of basic tips on making video look like film.